Closest & cheapest, side by side
Two clean tabs answer the only two questions you have at the wheel.
For iPhone & CarPlay · Free
Charge for less.
Drive farther.
WattsNear shows you the closest and cheapest EV chargers — live from the U.S. Department of Energy. Free on iPhone and CarPlay. No account, no tracking.
- No account
- No tracking
- NREL station data
- Powered by U.S. DOE NREL
- 60,000+ stations
- Every connector
- iOS 18+ & CarPlay
Built for drivers
Most charging apps were built for networks. We built ours for you.
One free app. Every network. Every charger. Sorted the way drivers actually think: how close is it, and how much will it cost?
| Typical EV apps | WattsNear | |
|---|---|---|
| Account required | Email & password | No sign-up |
| Networks | One network only | Every network |
| Your location | Sold to ad networks | Stays on your phone |
| Finding a charger | Cluttered map first | Closest & cheapest, one tap |
| Price | Paid pro tier | Free forever |
Features
Everything an EV driver actually needs.
Built on live NREL data — the same charging-station database the U.S. Department of Energy maintains. No accounts, no servers, no tracking.
Real prices, parsed
NREL's messy pricing field decoded into a single $/kWh estimate you can sort by.
Trip range planner
Tell WattsNear your battery and efficiency — see only the chargers you can actually reach.
CarPlay, Siri & Widget
On the dash, in the home screen, hands-free. Drives like a built-in app.
Every connector, every network
NACS, CCS, CHAdeMO, J1772, Tesla. Filter by what your car actually plugs into.
Private by design
No account, no servers, no tracking. Optional iCloud sync keeps your favorites with you.
CarPlay · Siri · Widget
Made for the driver's seat.
Four tabs on your dashboard. Nearest, cheapest, favorites, search. Filters carry over from your phone. Siri finds chargers without unlocking it.
- Nearest Closest stations to where you are, ranked by distance.
- Cheapest Sorted by estimated $/kWh — free chargers float to the top.
- Favorites Your trusted stations, synced from your phone via iCloud.
- Search Filter by network, connector, and power level — without typing.
"Hey Siri, find a charger" — works on the lock screen.
See it on iPhone
Straight from the App Store.
No mockups, no marketing renders — these are actual app screens.
What you'll save
Real numbers, real drivers.
Three honest scenarios — then tune the sliders for your own driving.
Daily commuter
200 mi/wk · home charging
3.5 mi/kWh · $0.18/kWh · vs $4.20/gal at 28 mpg.
~$1,028/yr
saved on the way to work
Road tripper
12,000 mi/yr · blended
Mixed home + DCFC at $0.30/kWh · vs $4.20/gal at 28 mpg.
~$770/yr
enough for the next long weekend
Free-charger hunter
1 free L2 session/wk
15 kWh per session, filtered to "Free only" in WattsNear.
~$200/yr
in pure free electrons
Tune it to your driving.
Sliders update live. The same math runs inside the app's trip-range planner.
Annual charging cost
$0
Gas equivalent
$0
You save
$0
per year, vs. driving gas
Privacy you can feel
No account. No tracking. No catch.
- Private by design Your coordinates go straight to NREL — never to us.
- No sign-up Open the app and you're already in. No email, no password.
- iCloud-only sync Favorites and history sync via your private iCloud database.
- Free forever One-time remove-ads purchase. No subscriptions. No dark patterns.
FAQ
Quick answers.
How much does WattsNear cost?
Free on the App Store. The free version shows a banner ad; a one-time "Remove Ads" in-app purchase strips them out forever. No subscriptions, no free trial gotchas.
Do I need an account?
No. WattsNear has no sign-up, no email gate, and no servers. Install the app and you're already in.
What devices does WattsNear support?
iPhone running iOS 18 or later, plus CarPlay. A home-screen widget and App Intents (Siri / Shortcuts / Spotlight) are included.
Where does the station data come from?
The U.S. Department of Energy's NREL Alternative Fueling Station Locator — the same public dataset many EV apps rely on. Station info is provided by the networks themselves and may occasionally be out of date.
How is price per kWh estimated?
NREL exposes a free-text pricing field that each network fills in differently. WattsNear parses common formats (per kWh, per minute, free, member-only rates) into a single rough estimate so the "cheapest" sort is meaningful. Always verify at the station.
Does WattsNear collect or share my location?
No. Your device sends its coordinates directly to NREL's public API to find nearby stations — we never see or store them. Favorites, history, and sessions live on your device, with optional sync through your private iCloud database.
Does it work without cell service?
Recent search results stay cached, so you'll see the last list you loaded. Live station data and pricing require connectivity to NREL.
Does it include Tesla Superchargers?
Yes. NREL now includes Tesla destinations and Superchargers, and WattsNear surfaces them alongside CCS, NACS, CHAdeMO, and J1772 stations.
Can I filter to only free chargers?
Yes — one toggle in the filter sheet. There are also filters for connector type, network, search radius, and station status.
How is WattsNear different from other EV charging apps?
Most charging apps are built by a single network for their own stations, or revolve around social features and ad-supported routing. WattsNear is the fastest path to the only two questions you have at the wheel: what's closest, and what's cheapest. No login, no tracking, every network.
Get the app
The smartest EV map on iPhone.
Free. No account. No tracking. Try it in the next parking lot.
Requires iPhone with iOS 18 or later. CarPlay and Siri features are optional.